Lesson 3: Language for Describing

Text: “The Peacock and Juno”Moral/Value: Each person has his or her own strengths, abilities and talentsClassroom Bridge: Learning styles Skills Focus: Listening / writingObjective: Students will be able to talk about who they are in terms of their skills and abilities and find things in common with each other.Stage/Time Instructions Materials

Engage

10 mins.

Introduction Welcome Ss. to class and ask them about their day. Have Ss. discuss in groups of 3 what their favourite animal is and why?

Then elicit answers from the class.

black board

Study / Activate

30 mins.

Listening Comprehension (pre listening / listening task / post listening) Introduce pictures of animals (eagle, nightingale, ox, fish, cat, rooster,

peacock) from the story and elicit answers from Ss. about what they think that animal is known for or good at. Tell Ss. they are going to hear a story with all of the animals from the pictures. Ask Ss. what they think the story is going to be about.

Have the following questions written on the board. 1) Who are the main characters? 2) Which animals are in this story? 3) What is each animal good at in the story? Have three Ss. read the questions aloud for the class. Then read Ss. the fable.

Have the Ss. discuss in pairs who the main characters of the story are and what the strengths of each animal are by answering the questions on the board.

Animal pictures

Study / Activate

40 mins.

Vocabulary Give Ss. the vocabulary check sheet and have them complete the left

column. Have Ss. complete the picture matching activity. Have Ss. complete the pronunciation chart as they listen to the T. give

the correct pronunciation of each word. Split the Ss. into groups of 3 or 4. Give each group a stack of taboo cards.

Ss. must take turns selecting a card and trying to get their group members to guess which vocabulary word is on the card without actually saying the word. In order to guess a word, Ss. must grab the realia (can be anything, a ball or hacky sack or eraser) in the middle of the table. If their guess is incorrect, they must put the realia back and let someone else take a turn. If they are correct, then they get a point. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Vocabulary check sheet

Picture matching worksheet

Pronunciation chart

Taboo cards

Study / Activate

50 mins.

Language Structure / Grammar Present students with the present simple tense using a timeline on the

board. Write the structure of the present simple tense, using I/he/she/James + can [verb] + modifier (I can sing well, James can dance very well), on the board for Ss. to see. Tell Ss. that the present simple is used to talk about who you are (skills and abilities) and what you can/can’t do. Highlight the negation of can/can’t to Ss.

Split Ss. into groups of three and have them ask and discuss with each other three things that they can and can’t do. Then have Ss. try to guess

Black board

what they think the Ss. in the other groups might be good at. Then elicit some answers from Ss. (eg. Ask a S. what they can do. Then ask another S. what they think other Ss. can do. Check with the second S. to see if the first one is right.)

Explain to Ss. the following structures. “I can also…” “Can you…?” and “I can/can’t… but I can’t/can… (I can also sing. Can you sing? I can’t sing but I can dance.)

Split Ss. into groups of 5 or 6. Explain to Ss. that they are going to play a fluency game. Each group must choose a S. to start. That S. begins by saying “I can… “(eg. draw). Then the S. should point to another S. and repeat the question form of their statement. (e.g. “can you draw?”). The S. that is chosen should respond with either two answers. If they can do the action then they should say “I can draw. I can also…” (S. chooses another action they can do. E.g. “I can also cook”). Then that S. selects another S. and continues the chant. (“Can you cook?”). However, if they cannot do the action then they should say “I can’t draw but I can cook. Can you cook?” (Chooses another S. and the chant continues). If a Ss. is unable to answer quickly enough or says the wrong thing, then they loose one of two lives. As soon as a Ss. looses two lives they loose one point and get their lives back. At the end the Ss. with the least amount of points lost in each group wins the activity.

Explain to Ss. that they are going to do a mingle. Give Ss. the mingle worksheet and have them answer the first question by themselves. Then read through the remaining questions with the Ss. having Ss. answer the rest of the questions during the mingle.

Mingle worksheet

Evaluate

35 mins.

Speaking or Writing – the main objective in the lesson Have Ss. work individually to write a paragraph about their own skills and

abilities in relation to others using the information they have recorded from the mingle activity above. The paragraph must contain 3 things they can do, 3 things they can’t do and 3 things some of their classmates can do as well. Ss. must use at least 2 similes in the paragraph as well. Write all objectives for the paragraph on the board for Ss. reference.

Split Ss. into pairs and have them proofread each other paragraphs. Tell Ss. they are looking for errors concerning the simple present structures they have just learned.

Select 4 or 5 students to read their paragraphs out loud to the class.

Notebooks

Reflect

15 mins.

Reflection or Assessment Have Ss. write in their journals to end the lesson. The Ss. should answer

the following questions written on the board. Do you think everyone has the same skills and abilities? Why or why not? Do you think that students learn in different ways? How do you learn –

through pictures, listening, doing things, etc.? How can people with different skills and abilities work together? What skills and abilities do you see in your own Ss.? How do you think your own Ss. learn?

Journals

Resources & Materials (Task Cut Outs, TCOs, Handouts, etc.)

Juno and the PeacockThe peacock was very unhappy because he did not have a beautiful voice like the

nightingale. He complained to his friend Juno about it. He said, “the nightingale’s song is the envy of all the birds, but when I try to sing everyone laughs at me. Juno tried to comfort him by saying “it’s true you don’t have a nice voice but you are more beautiful than all the other animals. Your neck shines like an emerald. Your tail is like a fan filled with jewels. But these words did not make the peacock feel any better. He said to Juno, “being beautiful isn’t important if you have an ugly voice like mine.” Juno was a bit stern when she replied, “Everyone has different gifts. You are beautiful. The eagle can see everything. The nightingale has a beautiful song. The ox is strong and the fish can swim. The rabbit is fast and the rooster can tell the time. Everyone has their own gift but you are the only one who is dissatisfied. You must stop complaining. If you were given this wish, you would find something else to complain about.

Handout – VocabularyA. Check the box. Do you know these words?

Vocabulary words Before the lesson After the lesson

Yes No Yes Nojewel

sing

dance

draw

ride a bike

play an instrument

shine

voice

B. Match the following words with their pictures:

Vocabulary words Pictures

voice H

sing ___

dance ___

draw ___

ride a bike ___

play an instrument ___

jewel ___

shine ___

A. B. C.

D. E. F.

G. H.

C. Listen to your teacher say these words. Write the pronunciation and practice saying the words.

Words Pronunciation

jewel je welsing

dance

draw

ride a bike

play an instrument voice

shine

D. Taboo cards

Mingle Questions

Name: _________________

1) What are three things that you can do?Example – I can sing very well.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

shine voice sing

dance draw ride a bike

play an instrument

jewel

2) Find three classmates who can also do the same things?Example – James can also sing very well.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

3) Find three classmates who can’t do the same things? Ask them what they can do.Example – Sarah can’t sing very well but she can dance.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Answer Keys

Vocabulary words Pictures

voice H

sing G

dance A

draw B

ride a bike E

play an instrument D

jewel C

shine F

A. B. C.

D. E. F.

G. H.

Words Pronunciation

jewel je welsing singdance dancedraw drawride a bike ride a bikeplay an instrument

play an in stru ment shine shine

voice voice

Bibliography

N/A